CSK and GT - teams born in different eras, yet eerily similar

It’s 2008. The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have only just come into existence. They have acquired MS Dhoni to be the face of their franchise, and have several other world-class players to aid CSK in their endeavors.

The inaugural IPL season begins. They start it off with a sensational victory in Mohali against the Kings XI Punjab (Punjab Kings now). Michael Hussey, one of the premier white-ball batters of that era, stars with a century. Funnily enough, there was no manic bidding for him, especially not as feverish as the bidding for his Australian teammates Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds.

CSK, riding on that impressive start, go all the way to the final. Throughout the competition, they stick to what they feel is their best possible 11. Even if a few players are going through barren spells, they trust them to get over it, as long as they are making the right efforts.

A few forced changes have to be made but you never come to question what their best starting 11 is, and there are never any question marks over what kind of cricket they are going to play.

They will come out, try to adhere to as many cricketing basics as possible, assume the mantra that boring is best and try to beat the opposition by just being better than them, rather than carrying that enigmatic aura of being erratic and unpredictable.

They lose to the Rajasthan Royals in the final but their identity has been established. 15 years, 16 editions, 10 finals, four titles later….nothing has changed.

***

It’s 2022. Two new teams have been formed, and the IPL is now a ten-team affair. The Gujarat Titans (GT) are one of those entrants, and after a bit of to-and-fro, when there was uncertainty around their existence, they have finally gotten the go-ahead to start formulating their cricketing plans.

Hardik Pandya, famously of the Mumbai Indians (MI) but not retained by the franchise, has been appointed as skipper. He does not have any major IPL captaincy experience, though.

Just a few years ago, he stepped into the troubled waters of reality talk shows and took time to emerge from it. A year ago, he was labeled as the primary reason for India’s ouster at the T20 World Cup. He has also not played a lot of cricket since that T20 World Cup, barely featuring for India.

So, there are a few raised eyebrows when he is installed as the skipper. But GT trust him, and they back him to the hilt. Of all the players they could have chosen to be the face of their franchise, they went with Pandya.

Two months of action-packed and bio-bubble cricket later, they are vindicated. GT win the IPL at the first time of asking. Pandya captures the imagination as captain so much that he is suddenly being talked about as India’s future T20I skipper.

All the murmurs about GT not having a strong enough squad seem quite dumbfounded. On paper, there were teams that looked better than them. But GT had specific roles for specific players. If they floundered performing those, they would still trust them, for they knew that they were the best bet to execute whatever their plan was.

They also worked out that having a better environment and a champion team was more beneficial than having 11 champion cricketers, and laughed at all the analysis in its face.

The best part was that people who had been watching the IPL all these years had seen a team, formed in a vastly different era, stick to these very ideals. This was, of course, GT and their genius.

But close your eyes, and it felt so much like…..CSK.

***

Back to the present and IPL 2023. Ten teams fought tooth and nail but only two are left standing. There has been plenty of back-and-forth already, with all the injuries that numerous players have picked up, and the added dimensions of the home-and-away format.

CSK and GT will contest the final of IPL 2023

Those who are still in the fray, though, have stayed in the moment and have assessed things as they have come, rather than rummaging frantically for solutions that simply did not exist. No prizes for guessing that these two sides are CSK and GT.

Last season, CSK were nowhere in the qualification picture. They finished second from bottom and it seemed that several holes existed in what eventually turned out to be a sinking ship. So, changes were expected prior to 2023.

CSK did break the bank to sign Ben Stokes but he played a grand total of two games. Kyle Jamieson was also bought at the auction but he was ruled out before a ball had been bowled. One other high-profile player was signed, though, and that, in a nutshell, explains what CSK are all about.

Ajinkya Rahane, over the past few years, has found going in the IPL tough. The four-time winners picked him up and when the opportunity presented itself, threw him into the deep end against MI. He sizzled with a fifty on CSK debut, before producing an equally astonishing knock against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens.

Basically, without changing much of their personnel, Dhoni has found a way to make the team tick. The players have remained the same, as have the philosophy and the role definition.

That role definition has allowed them to unlock the true potential of Shivam Dube – another maligned IPL figure and Matheesha Pathirana, who many believed was a complete greenhorn before this season. Neither is the finished product yet, but unleashing them in the periods that they are most comfortable in, has paid rich dividends.

GT have done something similar.

Mohit Sharma, after going unsold in 2021 and 2022, is now perhaps GT's most vital death-bowling weapon. Sai Sudharsan and Vijay Shankar have been used in roles where they have not had to tonk the ball from the outset and Wriddhiman Saha, despite not being in great form, knows that his primary responsibility is to attack the powerplay and allow Shubman Gill to bat deep.

In fact, if you try and draw parallels, several exist between these two outfits. Not just on the field, but also in how they conduct themselves off it. What makes it fascinating, though, is that these two teams came into being almost 15 years apart, and are yet so similar.

CSK must be lauded for the foresight and for figuring out so quickly that this is what they wanted their USP to be, way back in 2008. GT must be credited for understanding that something that has worked for CSK all these years, can work for them too in the 2020s -of course, with a few changes but with largely the same core.

So much so that it is almost immaterial who wins on Sunday, for these principles of backing players to the hilt, making them feel valued, creating a good environment, identifying weaknesses but prioritizing the strengths instead, and giving role clarity would ultimately triumph.

CSK and GT are the two best exponents of it in the IPL. One started off in that fashion 15 years ago; the other began in 2022. Yet, it feels both are destined to stick by it, irrespective of whatever happens, and, of course, until the concept of T20 cricket exists.

So far, it has yielded results too, over quite a long span and pretty frequently. Maybe then, this is the way to go about it, especially in a high-pressure environment such as the IPL.

After all, that is why they are contesting the game that really matters in the IPL.